The range of portable electronic information processing devices of most interest herein encompasses those broad families of computers, calculators, and data processor-based controllers which are readily transportable by individuals and usable on location. Such devices are usually self contained, and are commonly and descriptively known by numerous names, such as, for example, notebook computers, lap-top computers, hand-held computers, pocket computers, portable microcomputers, portable industrial controllers, pocket calculators, credit card calculators, credit card computers, wrist watch calculators or wrist watch computers. These devices are for simplicity sometimes collectively referred to herein merely as "portable computers", rather than the more cumbersome "portable electronic information processing devices". The reader, however, will readily understand and appreciate that when the term "portable computer" is used, the entire range of portable electronic information processing devices is intended.
The problem particularly addressed herein arises from the small size of these portable computers or the like, which necessarily must be such that an individual may both comfortably transport the computer and comfortably operate the computer in temporary or remote locations, including on his or her lap or in his or her hand while, for example, traveling in an airplane or in a car. By the same token, since they are handily transportable, such portable computers ordinarily are when not in use either disposed for protection within a carrying case, or folded down upon themselves to form a protective carrying case. Thus, of the necessity borne of portability, the visual information display screens utilized in conjunction with such portable computers or the like are in dimension quite small, which size constitutes a substantial limitation and is in multiple respects disadvantageous.
One such disadvantage is, of course, one of visibility itself, for below a certain character size, the individual using the computer must strain to see the information displayed on the screen. Concomitantly, the amount of such information displayed at any one time must necessarily be limited, and is frequently less than that available on the CRT display of a desktop computer, for example. Yet another related disadvantage of present portable computers is that many software programs designed to run on personal, desktop, or home computers often cannot function on portable computers because their menus and screen displays are not compatible with the smaller capacity portable computer displays. These limitations are more fully described in the January, 1984 issue of Creative Computing, published by AHI Computing, a division of the Ziff Davis Publishing Co. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,443 attempts a limited solution to the same general problem, describing therein an L-shaped hand-held computer which provides a larger display screen by making the width of the screen project beyond the width of the keyboard.
This set of difficulties will likely become more severe in the future, when it will probably be deemed desirable to further reduce the traveling size of portable computers. However, the size of the display screen cannot practically become smaller. Thus, that screen size is destined to become a primary factor in limiting appreciable further reduction in the size of portable computers. In contrast, portable computers having large display screens using large, easily readable characters would be significantly advantageous for many uses, including word processing, spread sheet operations, graphics operations and program writing. That is, while the computer shrinks, a way must be found to at least keep the display screen the same, previous size, or preferably, increase its usable information display area.